Sad and Grumpy turns to happy happy
by cordelia002
Summary: Luke and Lorelai get together, my way.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Gilmore Girls!**

**Chapter 1**

**Unsure**

As Luke got ready to meet Lorelai for dinner, he had no idea what to expect. He was crazy nervous and hoped that it didn't show. He went over and over what she had said earlier, but it was pretty vague, and could have meant anything. He was excited for the chance to spend an evening with Lorelai, but also worried that something might be wrong. He wondered where he would be when he got back to his apartment…..would he have finally shared his feelings for her. Why does she want to meet him? When he thought about to wear, he realized that the only appropriate thing, would be the clothes that she had bought for him years ago. He secretly had never taken them back; they made him laugh, and think of her. The look on Rachel's face when she walked in on her dressing him was priceless….._Rachel_. Why didn't he go after Lorelai after Rachel told him to? She was getting married, he was scared- there were many a reasons. The point is that he didn't, and he had to now. He had waited far too long. He determined that he would talk about it with her tonight, confess his feelings for her. Tonight.

"Well, now is as good a time as ever" he thought to himself and walked out the diner, and towards his car. Feeling weak with what was going to happen tonight, Luke looked around. Surprised, he saw Lorelai walking towards him, but hadn't caught sight of him yet. He had seen her everyday for eight years- and everyday, he felt like he did a pretty good job of hiding his feelings for her. But tonight, she was crying. Right at this moment all of Lorelai's walls were down. The strong person that needed nothing from anyone was scared and unsure about her future. She was vulnerable. And that quite possibly made her even more beautiful to him then she normally was. But he had to hold that inside. If there was ever a time not to share his feelings for her it was right now. He just had to be a good friend and listen. So what if she looked adorable hiding her tears from him? So what if he could barely breathe as she reached out to hug him? She smelled as good as he thought that she would, and at the moment it was enough. She tried to pretend that everything was okay for a couple of minutes, but she had already been crying, so there was really no hiding. She sobbed on about how she hadn't talked to Rory in days and about Sookie and Davy, and something about her hair. She finally let out about needing money. Of course he would give her money. At this particular moment there wasn't much that he wouldn't do for her. He thought about the bond that she had with her daughter. That bond was always so amazing to him. She always felt out of place when she was supposed to be meeting Rory and she wasn't there yet. Of course she would feel weird not having spoken to her daughter in a couple of days. They needed each other, and they were almost a part of each other. Lorelai was starting to breathe regularly again, and he knew that she would be alright. As she started to pull away, he knew that he would have to let go also or else there would be some serious questions that he would have to answer. He wiped her tears away with his sleeve with the excuse of an eyelash, and watched her finish collecting herself and started to walk away.

"Lorelai, can we sit down and talk for awhile?" still worried about her, and wanting to spend some more time with her.

"Ummm, well, okay. Want to go in and get some coffee?" wondering what he could want- but liking the excuse to keep the inn stuff out of her head awhile longer.

"Sure, I'd like that" he let his mind wonder a little bit as they walked towards the diner. But as he walked in, he knew that he would have to tease her about the coffee addiction. He had to keep up the tradition. "You know, if you would just drink tea, I could wake up every morning with a clear conscious. This coffee is going to kill you."

"No, I need your coffee. Do you really wake up every morning feeling guilty about my coffee habits?" she said looking a little surprised that he thought that much about her drinking coffee.

"I am your main supplier, shouldn't I feel guilty about giving into your addiction, when truly I am slowly giving you the tools to kill yourself?" hoping that was enough of an excuse, being he had said too much.

"But I appreciate your killing me, I wouldn't live long without it anyways!" as she took a big gulp of coffee just to prove her point. She knew that she should be heading home, she still really wanted to talk to Rory, and she couldn't if she didn't get home soon. "Okay, well I should be heading out. Still want to catch Rory before she goes to bed."

"Oh well of course." He said hoping that the disappointment didn't show in his voice. He knew it was now or never. Taking a deep breath he started to make the move that he had thought about making for eight years.

"Well, see ya!" she called to him opening the door and walking out.

And it was too late. It would have to wait for another time. He sighed and then did what he always did when trying to get Lorelai Gilmore out of his head. Wipe down the tables. There was always one spot that he would wipe down when he couldn't stop thinking about her- right where she always sat. Actually there was probably a place where the counter was worn down; she was on his mind so much.

_One day, she would be his_, one day they would both wake up and see that they were meant to be together. Yeah, Luke already knew it, had for years, but he was terrified to find out he was alone. So they playfully flirted everyday, truly hoping that one day the other would do something- give some real clue that they were together on this. Luke yelled to Caesar that he would be out for awhile and walked out the door. He was done just waiting around for her. She could be his tonight if he could get up the courage to ask. But he needed an excuse to go over there. He was always over there, there had to be something. Luke passed the town square and then gave up. Walking into Doose's he stopped short, there she was. What to say, what t say…….. Unfortunately when he was fighting the urge to tell her his feelings for her, his words came out grumpier then normal. So he tried to act as normal as possible as he "ran" into her.

"Hey" she said, happy with life once again. She was also really happy to see that she hadn't weirded him out by her crying all over him. It had felt very nice, and she was still wondering at the feelings that it had left her with.

"Hey, I just came in for some sugar, we were close to being out, at the diner" he rambled. "Lorelai, could we maybe……… sometime…" he stammered not really sure what he had meant to finish with. He just wanted to keep up the conversation so that he could stay and talk to her.

"Look Luke, I'm really sorry that it all came out like it did. I really didn't mean for it to. I was upset, and my feelings were overflowing." She said feeling guilty.

"Lorelai, of course I will give you the money, I will help you in any way that I can." Allowing some of his feelings to come out- but wishing they weren't coming out quite as feeling-y as they were.

Lorelai visibly gave a sigh of relief, "Really? Thank you Luke. You know, I will pay you back every cent, I just don't know what I would do without your help Luke, thank you." She nervously ranted.

"Its fine" he said, as he returned to his grumpy old Luke ways. "I should get back" as he was losing all nerve to talk about what was truly on his mind and heart.

"Yeah me too, Rory is waiting for me with a movie. I was here to get the junk food." And she turned around and started walking out of the door.

"Wait, Lorelai! Can we talk about something?" it's either now or never Danes, Luke told himself.

"Yeah, hey what's up?" she said, a little surprised at his urgency, as they had just been talking.

"Lorelai, I…." and because he couldn't get the words out, Luke leaned down and kissed her soundly on the mouth. _I just kissed Lorelai Gilmore_. And with that, having no words, he walked out of Doose's. Much like Rory did after Dean had given her first kiss. He walked out with whatever was in his hands, which happened to be a pound of sugar.

And Lorelai stood there stunned. He hadn't given her a chance to kiss him back, or say anything, just stand there looking dumbfounded. They had a lot of talking to do, but for now, she would collect her thoughts and head home. She walked towards checkout, and rambled on and on to Dean about nothing whatsoever, and walked out of Doose's. She didn't feel like heading home to her daughter, she had no idea what kissing Luke meant to her, but it confirmed the feeling that him holding her as she cried had given her. _Wow, the town was right. Luke Danes liked her. He might've always had, and he got up the nerve to tell her. _Now, what was she feeling? Now that she could breathe once more, she hadn't stopped smiling. She _LOVED_ that realization. _Maybe I am in love with Luke. Is this crazy town actually right about something?_ And what about the stress she was under when she had walked into Luke's this evening? Where had that gone? It wasn't gone, just put into a much better perspective. Everything would be okay-especially with Luke there beside her. She couldn't imagine life not being good with Luke in it. But she was WAY ahead of herself; they hadn't even talked, just kissed. _Luke kissed me!_ She thought extremely happily.

Luke walked away was quickly was possible. It hadn't quite hit him yet what just happened, and he didn't want it to. He also didn't want to risk seeing horror or anger on Lorelai's face. So it was better to get out of there. At least it was finally out in the open. He liked her, and he always had. He sighed, feeling relieved. Oh, who was he kidding? He was scared to death. _But he had kissed Lorelai Gilmore!_ He now was right up there with all of the 'luckiest guys in the world' that had gotten to kiss Lorelai. But he could be so much better for her, if only they had a chance. _Luke and Lorelai together_…….the thought made him almost giddy. If Luke could ever be giddy, this would be the time. As Luke sat in the cold on the bench in the gazebo, he was just daydreaming. The thought of seeing rejection in her eyes, scared him to death, but on the off chance that the GORGEOUS women he just kissed, felt the same way, made him feel almost high. They would definitely be having a talk tomorrow, but for now, Luke was happier then he had since his father had died.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Unsure **

**Thank you SOOOOO much for your comments, it was so good and much needed to hear from you!**

**Thanks to:**

Flirtswithdisaster, JJSoulmatesLL, lorelai gilmore danes1, suusje32 and chmelms!

Lorelai kept waking up all night long. She couldn't sleep! And when she did doze off her thoughts of Luke ran wild. She was positively itching to get to the Diner that morning. She already knew exactly what she would wear that day. Being she couldn't sleep, it was something to think about. Ohhhh, wow this felt right. Something in her right away felt really really right. Luke was the One. She could feel it. He was her One and only. They had flirted for years, and who knew that he actually meant something by it! She had always hoped that he meant something by it, but she didn't really believe it. Luke liked her, HER! Luke liked her, Lorelai Gilmore, with enough emotional baggage to need a second or third seat in an airplane. He had chosen her. And in a few short hours, they would get to talk about it. Oh, but sure, her heart was already having doubts. She had made so many mistakes, hurt so many guys. Besides herself being hurt so many times. What if he got to know her and backed away. Her One. That would kill her. Oh, all she wanted was to get to the Diner and kiss Luke again. In Luke's kiss all doubts were washed away, and the certainty that this was the love story written just for her was very clear.

So Lorelai called her best friend. Yeah it was late, but she needed Rory. She just hoped that they would actually be able to talk this time, instead of the million tries this week. After 3 rings, Rory answered the phone groggily.

"Hello?" she said, trying to figure out who was calling her, and hoping that nothing was horribly wrong.

"Hey Rory…..umm the unthinkable just happened"

"You and Grandma hugged and kissed and made up for everything ever to go wrong in your relationship?"

"Um no, that's……..well that…. just isn't going to happen." She replied, not being able to think what that would mean if that were actually to happen. "Luke kissed me" She said, waiting for Rory's response.

"Ummmmm wow did that just happen, or was there something before that?"

"I cried on him, and then walked into the store, and he showed up there too, and he kissed me. Then he ran off! I don't know what to do or think…….does he really like me? Why did he leave like that? He didn't even give me a chance to kiss him back. Right before, things felt a little weird but I wasn't expecting that! I just don't know what to think."

"Mom, you're going to have to talk to Luke. All I know is that you two have flirted an awful lot to not really care about each other. Just go talk to Luke in the morning."

"Okay… I can't wait though you know? It's really good to hear from you though hon."

"You too mom, talk to you again during waking hours?"

"Sure, goodnight"

"Goodnight"

Then Lorelai know she couldn't wait. It was 4am and Lorelai couldn't sit in bed worrying any longer. She jumped in the shower, and did her hair, threw the clothes on that she had been dreaming of wearing for Luke, and walked outside. It was obviously still dark and colder then she thought that it would be…..she pulled her jacket around her tighter. Lorelai was going to find out once and for all if this was real. She was going to relieve her mind of her doubts.

Luke wasn't doing much better. He was kicking himself for being such an idiot for running away after kissing Lorelai. Sure, he was happy- he had just kissed the love of his life……but did he have to be such an idiot? _Danes, she is going to laugh in your face tomorrow morning._ But then he sighed. He had finally done it, he had kissed Lorelai Gilmore. After watching her go out with a million losers, she just might be his now. He knew that he would cherish her. Or at least try to. All he knew that he was scared and excited for tomorrow morning to come. While Luke was tossing in bed, he heard something hit his window. His mind instantly knew who it was…..Lorelai was here to find out what was going on. Luke sighed and got up. He looked out the window and waved to let her know that he was coming down, and then threw clothes on. He raced down the stairs and opened the door. Luke couldn't remember that last time he had been so scared.

When Lorelai saw his face, she let out an audible sigh. It was all in his eyes- he loved her. There wasn't a doubt in his mind what his feelings were. But he was scared to death about what she thought. She didn't know what to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind; "After all this time- I never thought" Lorelai actually had no words to say. She let the look she hoped was in her eyes be enough.

And Luke sighed happily. Okay, she was with him on this. Now they needed to take care of somethings. "Lorelai, do you really want to start this?" Luke started.

"Of course" she whispered.

Luke let a moment or two pass before saying "Okay, well then, lets get you some coffee and we'll talk about this" Luke said and as he turned around he smiled. The one thing that he had hoped for 8 years was coming true right in front of his eyes. He was having a hard time keeping up with everything going on. But for now Luke and Lorelai were starting something, and both were really excited. And after he handed her the coffee, without a fight, Luke and Lorelai talked until the first customers came to eat at Luke's Diner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it is really good to hear from people! **

**Thanks to: **Asta-gilmore, flirtswithdisaster, JJSoulmatesLL, and sapphirestar820.

Both were startled 4 hours later and jumped out of their seats at the sound of Kirk banging on the diner door. They were forced back into reality. _Had they really talked for the last 4 hours?_ Neither could believe it. It was now 9am, and there were hungry people wanting breakfast at his front door. He didn't have a choice; he had to open up shop. _They had talked all night long. _Luke thought and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. But now, they both needed to get to work.

"Could we possibly do this again tonight?" Luke asked her, still somewhat worried that she would change her mind.

"Yeah, I would really like that" Lorelai replied, wanting to relieve his fears.

"Okay, pick you up at your house about 8"

"Alright" she said smiling. _This is going to be long day of waiting……_

Kirk was banging on the glass now, and so before he hurt himself, Luke opened the door.

"Hey guys, sorry that I'm a little late in opening today. Sit wherever you want, and I will get your food started." He sent a hopeless look to Lorelai, who nodded her understanding. She turned to leave, and he grabbed her sleeve.

"Meet me upstairs for a minute?" He said, knowing that Caesar could easily start the food without him.

"Sure"

She started up the staircase to Luke's apartment- she had never been there as Luke's 'girlfriend'. Well technically, she wasn't walking up the stairs into Luke's apartment now as his girlfriend, but hopefully she would be within the next few days. The thought gave her chills of excitement. _Luke's girlfriend_, which was almost as good as Luke's fiancé or wife. _LUKE'S wife_! But, Luke was coming up the stairs now, and she didn't want to freak the poor guy out with talk of marriage. Just a tad early for that; but she truly hoped that that was where this relationship was going.

"Hey-"he started, but she stopped him with a kiss. Yes, they had already kissed once, but that wasn't a real one……this was real. The first only told her that he liked her, this time; she was expressing that same thing to him. And it felt really right. Not just right, but perfect. Lorelai couldn't have pulled away even if she had wanted to. Luke was a better kisser then she had ever imagined, and she was lost in his kiss. She had never actually felt this way, she had always dreamed of feeling like this, but it was exactly what had been missing from every other relationship. She couldn't do anything- and she loved it. They continued like this for a couple more minutes, but they both knew that they couldn't let it go too far, Luke was technically at work, and Lorelai needed to get to hers. So with much hesitation, they parted. Luke knew that there was no where else he wanted to be, but also that he desperately needed sleep. He would take a nap, and then get back to work. He watched Lorelai walk back down the stairs. _They were together._ As Luke got ready to head to bed for awhile, he couldn't get that simple thought out of his head.

At the inn Lorelai ran to see Sookie. "Sookie! I am with Luke, or at least I will be officially tonight. We spent the whole night talking, and we have a date for tonight!"

Sookie had always known that this was the match perfectly made for her best friend. "That is GREAT!" She said jumping up and down. "Tell me all about it! How was the……._you know_"

"Sookie there was no, _you know_. We talked all night; there is so much to take care of before there is any of that." Lorelai had always known there was one way to keep a guy, and she learned to do that well. That was all she really knew, that was the only way she had ever known to keep a guy in her life. Lorelai always thought that her true self, would never cut it, she had to hide that Lorelai with the slutty one. Luke just might be different. With Luke, she didn't want to immediately give him that; it wasn't that she didn't want to have sex with Luke; it was that she didn't feel like she needed to right away to get him hooked. Luke had known her and loved her for 8 years without sex. He loved Lorelai, not her body. In this way, Lorelai felt like she could give him more, and she felt more alive and free when she was around him. _Someone might love her just for being Lorelai_, the thought almost scared her, it was amazing how deeply that rang true in her heart.

Luke woke up feeling better rested then he had in a really long time. Probably, he reasoned, because his heart was settled about Lorelai, she had been on his heart for years. More then normal recently, he still couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream. A day and a half ago, his life had changed; it was now on the correct path. He would be alright. He would be with the girl he loved for the rest of his life, and they would be happy. Happy, the word sounded almost foreign to him. Not that Luke was unhappy, but he couldn't really say that he was _happy_ happy. He ached to be a better, no The Perfect guy, for Lorelai. She had been with so many losers. He thought about it a lot actually, and his heart ached for her every time he heard about another boyfriend of hers. It wasn't quite as bad as his sister Liz, but it was pretty close, and he felt more protective over Lorelai. As he laid in bed thinking about these things, he couldn't help but hope that this would be the last relationship that he would ever have. He truly hoped so. After Lorelai, there was no one else. Luke sighed, looked at the clock, and got up. 8pm would never come. As he went downstairs to actually do some work, Luke realized that there would be no getting work done today. He had way too many thoughts, feelings and emotions running through him. Being anxious and excited didn't help Luke's people skills. He was actually grumpier with customers then normal. It wasn't that he was upset, it was just that he was really excited, and didn't know how to deal with all the things that he was feeling. Lane was really good at covering for him though, and switched into that mode very easily. She knew when to just let him be, and stay out of his way, and this was one of those times. Every time that stupid bell rang above the door, he jerked his head in that direction. Not that there was any reason for her to come in, but he could hope couldn't he?

Then around 1pm, Luke jerked his head up for the millionth time, it was her…..and he couldn't breathe. _She was just as excited as he was._ That thought gave him great pleasure, and he walked over to get her coffee. Getting Lorelai coffee had always secretly been the very best part of his day, but the knowledge that she was his made it even better. He sat down across from her and leaned in close. They laughed and giggled; they talked about their date, and how excited they were, and flirted a little. Luke knew full well that he was a different person around her. But it was a good change, one that he really liked. It wasn't even on purpose, it just happened. He was happy, and had no reason to be grumpy when she was around. And he loved the very thought about having that forever. Luke had no reason to be nervous- this was right, and he didn't have to be worried of her changing her mind. Luke let go of the worry for the first time in 2 days. He let himself breathe. It was all going to be perfect, he could relax. Lorelai liked him and that was all that mattered. All too soon Lorelai got up to leave; they needed her at the inn. Luke got up too, and just to think for moment, he walked into the storeroom. Lorelai liked him- it was a new thought for him, and he couldn't get the wonderful thought out of his head.

"Luke, is there something that you want to tell me?" It was Miss Patty. And it hit Luke that the whole town had seen how closely and intimately they had eaten lunch. Luke hadn't even thought about that. _The town probably knew_. He suddenly wanted to call Lorelai to see how she wanted to get this out- _what if she didn't want it out at all? Well, then she wouldn't have eaten lunch with him in the center of town. But still- what if she wanted to take care of things a certain way?_ Miss Patty was still waiting, and truly she didn't really need an answer. The lunch was everyone's warning that Luke and Lorelai had finally seen what everyone else had seen 8 years ago.

Luke walked back into the diner and without really thinking through what he was going to say he yelled "Lorelai and I are going out. Yes that is the situation, if you don't like it I don't care, if you do like it I don't care. But that is the situation." Miss Patty looked smug and the rest of the people in the diner, looked worried, and then happy for Luke and Lorelai. The word would be out to the rest of the town within minutes; Luke needed to call Lorelai to tell her that the word was out. He picked up the phone and dialed her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, um Lorelai, the whole town knows." He stated simply.

"They know what?" she replied not really understanding

"About us, they all saw us have lunch together, and they know. I kinda told them"

"And you didn't think that they would figure it out? Here in our crazy town? Miss Patty was at lunch today Luke, did you really think that people wouldn't find out?"

"Well I didn't really think about it. Do you care if it's out? I don't, but we didn't talk about it, do you care?"

"No, I wouldn't want to keep this a secret. A secret means that you are ashamed of it, and I am not. So I'm glad it's out, less work for us to do in telling people."

"Okay, so it's out" a smile in his voice.

"It's out" matching his happiness.

"Okay, see you tonight Lorelai"

"Tonight"

Okay, so I don't really know where I should go from here, I'm not sure that I want to mess with their first date, it's SO perfect. Can you really beat their ADORABLE first date? Help me out! Thanks! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, thank you to everyone that commented, and gave me advice. **

**Thank you to: LorelaiLukeForever, JJSoulmatesLL, and flirtswithdisaster.**

**Don't worry; they will be back together, going strong again by next chapter!**

**Chapter 4**

Finally it was getting close to the time of their date, and Luke was getting even more antsy then before. Every little thing made him jump, and he was getting really tired of it. He retreated upstairs for awhile to think. He thought of all the ways that this could go wrong, how he could ruin their first date, and how she could be changing her mind. That is what scared him the most, Lorelai changing her mind. He had no idea why she liked him, and could see nothing special about himself. He had ruined so many relationships…..he hoped beyond hope that this would be different. But truly he wasn't sure.

Lorelai kept watching the clock- for some reason she was getting scared. Like needing to run away type scared. Praying desperately that she wouldn't ruin this beautiful thing that was starting she knew that she couldn't go out on this date. She needed time. Suddenly she panicked, and there was only one way out. She grabbed her car keys, deciding to run. Now, the only question on her mind was to call him or not…….. she would have to think of an excuse if she did call him. Otherwise, the excuse could wait awhile, if it came at all. Oh, it wasn't that she didn't love him. She truly beyond any doubt loved him-and it scared her. But they had only shared their feelings 2 days ago, and true love was coming on awful fast. She hadn't had any time to process all that had happened, and now, the terror of jumping into something this big and getting hurt was hitting her. If it wasn't going to last, or wasn't really real, she didn't want anything to do with it. So she jumped into her car, and drove away. Lorelai knew that Luke probably was the One for her, but she wanted to be sure- whatever that meant. Her heart knew and understood, even if it did sound weird to her head. She wanted to be able to jump in completely if this was real, and before she thought through things, that wouldn't be possible. No, she wouldn't call him. She didn't really want to hear his voice. Life should be more complicated then it had been over the last 2 days, and it worried her that it was so easy. All in all, Lorelai needed some time to process. Lorelai had no idea where she was going- but the only thing that she knew that she wanted was Rory. Rory could put everything back into perspective. So she turned towards Yale.

Luke walked up the driveway of the house that he knew so well. How many countless times had he been here to fix something? How many times had he hoped that when that beautiful woman opened that door, she would be opening her heart to him too? Realizing that she was as in love with him as he was in love with her. But this time, he was walking up her driveway to pick her up for a date! _He was going out with Lorelai Gilmore_. He didn't see that her car was gone. He didn't even notice that there were no lights on in the house. He was too excited. So he knocked on the door, and knocked on the door. Finally he sat on the porch, he knew that girls sometimes took a long time to get ready but they normally opened the door to the guy first right? His hope faded around 8:20. Had she forgotten? Did she run? Was there something wrong that he should be worried about? Luke had no idea. But he got up and started to head back down her driveway. Then he realized that her car wasn't there. She wasn't here waiting for him…..she had run away from their date. He had hoped that he could be better for her then all the other guys in her life. But maybe she couldn't have a good relationship……He didn't know what to think, but he knew that he was really hurt, and felt really stupid to think that he could be better for her. Now his heart was deeply involved even if it had officially only been 2 days, for his poor heart, it had been 8 years of waiting and hoping for this moment/ chance. And it had been 8 years of a very long and bumpy roller coaster ride. His chance with her had only last for 2 days.

As Lorelai neared Yale, she reached for her phone and turned it on. She almost cried when there was no message from Luke. But it was Rory she needed to call, so she dialed the number- pushing thoughts of Luke out of her mind for the moment. When Rory answered the phone she barely said hello before her mother sobbed out her story.

"Mom, you have got to go back to Luke. You and Luke and so right together. You have been happier in these last 2 days then ever before. Go and get him! He probably thinks you bailed on him, which you did! Please go back to him mom, you two were perfect." Rory was starting to panic, her mother was running away from the first truly perfect relationship she had ever had, and it scared her. She wanted her mother to be happy. Really really happy.

Lorelai went on to tell her daughter all of her concerns. She cried a little, sobbed a lot. Lorelai knew deep deep down, that this was right……and her running away wasn't really about that. It was working out all of her confusion about finally having the perfect relationship.

When Lorelai got to her daughter's dorm, they talked this through much more thoroughly. Rory hugged her, and listened to her babbling. That was really all her mother needed. Lorelai liked to be in control of her life, she liked to have all the answers, and sometimes she crashed and needed to be picked up and cared about for awhile. It didn't really happen very often, but it stopped scaring Rory long ago. They talked and hugged and cried, and talked about how perfect Luke was for Lorelai. Lorelai still didn't believe that Luke had liked her all these years, but Rory knew the truth. They spent hours talking until Lorelai realized that she might have just ruined everything with Luke. Lorelai knew that she was still into this, but Luke didn't know that! In trying to fix her confused heart, she might have lost the perfect relationship. Suddenly she needed to talk to Luke. Lorelai jumped out of her seat and said a quick goodbye to Rory. "I need to fix things with Luke" was her only explanation, and she ran out of the door.

Luke sat in the dark up in his apartment. He was taking this a lot harder then he probably should have……..but all he knew was that this hurt. Lorelai hadn't even given them a chance. He probably shouldn't have let his heart get so involved before their relationship got very far, but he couldn't help it. It was so exciting to finally have Lorelai in his life the way he had always wanted. Luke checked his messages for the millionth time. He wondered if he should be worried about her, or just upset that she ran away. _Oh well, might as well go to bed._ So Luke got ready, and went to bed- though he had too many questions in his heart to really sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Okay, so thank you for all of your help on how to do their first date. **

**Thank you to: chmelms, JJSoulmatesLL, and flirtswithdisaster.**

As Lorelai jumped in her car, she couldn't wait to get to Diner. She was in a panic to get back to Stars Hollow. Yale was way too far from Stars Hollow- she had no idea how far Yale was. Rory and her and always talked about how close it was, but she had to get home. But at least it gave her a chance to think about what she would say to Luke. _Luke_, she better get him back. He was the One, she was sure now. It isn't that she had doubts; she was just confused and needed to talk them out. Lorelai was finally _in love_- not like with Max. This time she would want to try her wedding dress on every evening, she would daydream about their wedding until the day it happened, and they would live happily ever after. _Happily ever after_! She was going to live happily ever after. But this was all only if she got him back. She had to get him back. If only the stupid traffic could understand that her happiness depended on getting back to Stars Hollow. When she finally got back, she ran to Luke's from the road. She grabbed the key from above the door, and let herself in. Lorelai couldn't breathe, so she made herself stop for a moment and breathe.

Luke was asleep when there was a knock on the door. He sighed. He knew exactly who it was, and he was very interested in what she would have to say. He wondered if they would be together by the time that she left tonight. He put on his robe, and headed for the door.

When he opened the door Lorelai looked into his eyes to see what he was feeling. He was hurt. "Luke?" she started, but didn't know how to continue.

He sighed once again "Lorelai, do you want this? Do you want there to be a Luke and Lorelai relationship?"

"Yes" she said, watching him and stepping into the apartment.

"Then why did you run away from our date? Were you scared? Because we can talk about that" there was a lot of understanding in his voice, and Lorelai completely melted into him. He held her for awhile, while she cried. Her tears were tears of relief, and she was feeling much better. There is going to be a _happily ever after_, is all she could think about.

"So, can we talk about what happened today?" Luke said after a while.

"Yeah, we can." And she sat on the couch and told him the story of everything that she had been feeling about their date. She felt stupid, but she wanted to tell him everything. Now that she knew that they were going to be okay, she felt like she could tell him anything. She also felt very tired- the last 2 days had been awesome, but also emotionally draining. Luke listened to all of what she said, and understood it all. He knew how he was feeling, but it was really good to hear that this was what she really wanted.

"Lorelai, do you want some food?" wanting her to stay around for awhile.

"Yeah, that sounds really good"

"Okay, hamburgers and coffee?"

"Yup, and onion rings!"

"Lorelai it's midnight! You don't have onion rings at midnight!" and she gave him the puppy dog face, and his rant quickly ended. Onion rings went into the hot grease. He just couldn't argue with that face. There was no arguing with that face! He made up all of Lorelai's favorite foods, and even a tomato to sneak into her burger. She babbled on and on about something, he didn't understand any of it- but you better believe that he listened. Well, Luke had always listened to her babbling. He just made sure that she didn't KNOW that he listened to her babbling. But tonight, he didn't even pretend to not listen. He was all ears, and smiling at her while she babbled.

They sat down to eat, and laughed and talked. It wasn't what this night was supposed to look like, but it was Lorelai and Luke. Things were bound to go differently for Lorelai and Luke.

"So, when is the next chance for our first date?" Lorelai asked

Luke smiled. "You want there to be a second first date huh?"

"Yeah I do"

"Okay, very good to hear." And then said carefully, "Any reservations about it still lingering?"

"Nope, not a one"

"Good, what about tomorrow night? I think that we could use a night of rest. But you better come into the dinner tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow night it is, and I will be in for some coffee." She smiled. _So he really does like it when I come in for coffee. This diner owner isn't quite as grumpy as everyone makes him out to be. _

He broke into her thoughts when he said "Can I walk you home?"

"Yeah sure, yeah I would like that" she smiled.

Their walk home was slow and full of laughter, but Lorelai felt like they got there far too quickly. She kissed him goodnight, and walked up the stairs to her bedroom smiling a giant goofy smile. She slept very well for the first time in forever, and woke up not being able to wait to get to the diner.

"Luke, I need coffee" she stated. She had walked into the diner when someone left, so he didn't know that she was there. Then she snuck behind the counter, and said that right into his ear.

He jumped at least a mile. "Jeez Lorelai!" but he smiled when his breathing became regular again, and grabbed her favorite cup (you know the one with the heaviest coffee stain on the inside that he couldn't get out) and handed her coffee. He pretended to take it back, asking "How many cups does this make for you today?"

"Well actually number 1, I was really excited to get here, and so I haven't had any yet today?"

"You're _lying_ to me! Lorelai, I wasn't going to stop you from drinking it, but you don't have to lie to me about it."

"Actually that was the truth"

"Oh." And Luke felt stupid and he changed the subject. "Are we still on for tonight?"

Between gulps of coffee she said "Of course" and sat at the counter nearest to where he was standing. She still couldn't believe that her and her coffee supplier were going out. It didn't seem real at all. But she loved the butterflies she got around him. And she loved to just watch him. She had never let herself believe the town that he liked her, but now she noticed all the little things that he had always done so that she wouldn't notice his feelings. "You're on backward baseball cap guy." And she left the diner.

He watched her go and couldn't wait to go out with her. Tonight was their night, and he was sure that she wanted it to happen as much as he did. Luke pulled his wallet out and opened it up. He carefully pulled the horoscope that he had been saving for 8 years out of the pocket. _"It will bring you luck"_ the pretty girl had told him. After 8 years, it really had brought him good luck, and he knew that Lorelai probably didn't remember it at all. But he would remind her tonight. And he was pretty sure, that she would be absolutely floored that he kept it for so long. OH! He couldn't wait to see her face!

**Okay, so I am having their TV show first date be their first date here. It was untouchable it was so perfect. So the next chapter will pick up after 'Written in the Stars'. Thanks for all of the help **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After Luke had gone downstairs and gotten Lorelai's coffee, and she had gulped it down, it was time to get to work. Luke had to get downstairs, Lorelai had to get dressed, and then get to the inn. As she snuck out the back way of Luke's establishment, she realized that she had been smiling the whole time. She couldn't stop! It was like a disease. Luke was her One. The whole world seemed to know and be content with the fact that the two people who were most perfect for each other, were now together. Sure it had taken a lot of broken hearts and wrong relationships to get here- but now she had arrived, and was in the most perfect place she had ever been. Luke was her One. She would never get tired of thinking about that, or how it sounded to her. She had longed to find the One for her for as far back as she could remember. Before Rory, before Christopher, it had been a longing in heart for a long time. And now she had it. She had it! And the world seemed to know it! It was sunny out, and the world was perfect. Nothing could have ruined this day for her. All day she felt like a teenager. Every time the phone rang she got all excited and got butterflies-hoping for it to be Luke. While she was at her desk daydreaming about Luke, Sookie walked in needing her attention.

"Lorelai- I need to know what you think about…….Lorelai! Lor-elaiiiiii?" Sookie tried and tried to get her attention. Finally she snapped her fingers in front of her.

"Agh! What Sookie?" Lorelai jumped

"I have been trying to get your attention for the last minute. What are you thinking about Hun?" knowing pretty well what or WHO she was thinking about.

So Lorelai had no choice. She had to tell Sookie about everything. She talked about their date, and Bud and Maisey. Of course Sookie had met them long ago when she moved into Stars Hollow. But Lorelai hadn't known that. She told her about the horoscope, and how adorable Luke looked when he had pulled it out of his wallet. Sookie screamed and squealed, and jumped up and down like only Sookie can when she is excited. She was also very excited to hear that Luke and Lorelai had finally done- "_you know_". Sookie was genuinely excited for Lorelai- she had found the one that could make her happy! Sure the whole town had known they were meant to be together for 8 years, and they were just finding that out. But neither was willing to listen until recently. There was so much heart ache that could have been stopped if they had found each other earlier, but it might be more exciting now. Knowing how horrible life had been before, and now it was going to be very good. Life would be very good with Luke and Lorelai going hand in hand. It was a very long day at work for Lorelai; she just wanted to be back with Luke.

Luke was having a lot of the same feelings. He had won the girl of his dream's heart! He had won Lorelai's heart, and not just because of his coffee. After loving her for so long- he had won her affections. Maybe it was too early to say they were in love, but they were on the road there. Because they had known each other for so long, it was hard for Luke's mind not to head to marriage already. Luke had loved her for long enough that that is where he saw the relationship going there- and it had many a times in his mind. He desperately wanted her to feel the same way. But truly, he knew that he would have to bite his tongue about that for awhile. It was just too soon. Maybe he had loved her for that long, but he didn't know if she had. That would definitely be something to talk about- he just hadn't gotten the courage to ask her yet. These might be new feelings for him. All of that would come in time- right now he wanted to revel in the fact that he was with Lorelai Gilmore. And hopefully that would be together forever. _Forever with Lorelai._ That thought got him through the rest of the day, until he could call her and make plans for that evening.

Lorelai jumped into her car, and grabbed her cell phone. Unfortunately, she tried starting her car, and dialing at the same time. She ended up getting some man named Ed. Hmmmm. Once she had her jeep started, she dialed the diner's number again.

"Luke's" he said, looking at the time to see if it could be Lorelai.

"Hey" she loved the sound of his gruff voice.

"Hey" he said, his voice immediately getting softer. "What do you want to do tonight?" He wondered how long it would be until he stopped getting excited just to hear her voice.

"Whatever you want" she said, truly not caring, just hoping he wanted to do something. "You want to come over and watch a movie?" thinking that that would be relaxing, and they could do whatever once he got there.

"Sure, that sounds great. I will bring over hamburgers and fries at about 7."

"So you know all of my weaknesses huh?" she said, not being able to stop the smile that appeared on her face at the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, I do." Smiling right back, even though they couldn't see each other, the smile was in their voices.

After a long pause of just being lost in thought, Lorelai continued. "I will get the movie, and maybe some more junk food."

"Lorelai that stuff will kill you!" most mocking her, this time not really meaning it, just wanting to start their usual argument, the one that he had always hid behind, trying not to show his real feelings.

"But it's a good way to go!" loving their normal argument. Thinking about their 'normal argument', made her think about when Luke had told her that he had always been in love with her. When Luke had said that, he had absolutely blown her away. She didn't feel deserving of that kind of love, how many times had she messed up a relationship? But she hadn't thought about how long she had loved him. Not sure why that had never come to mind, but it hadn't. _Have I loved him the whole time I have lived in Stars Hollow? He waited through Christopher, Max, Christopher again, and then Jason._ _Had those relationships been doomed from the start because she had always loved Luke?_ But there was some serious that thought that had to go into all that, and Luke was desperately trying to get her attention. "Sorry Luke, my mind was in Never land for a minute."

"That's okay, are you alright?" honestly worried about her, he had been trying to get her attention for a couple of minutes now.

"Yeah, I'm fine, see you at 7." And she hung up the phone. _Wow there was a lot to think about. _But she had to let it go for now, because there was a lot to get done. As she pulled into her own driveway, she was still trying to get the thoughts out of her head. They weren't bad thoughts, just some deep thinking, that she truly needed to come to some conclusions about- this was her future. She quickly changed, into what she thought she wanted to wear for her date, and then ran back out the door.

She had no idea what movie Luke would want to see. She pawed through all of the movies, and still couldn't decide. She had made him watch movies with her before, but this time, she really wanted both of them to enjoy it. Finally, it was 6:30, so she grabbed a movie, and ran over to Doosey's to get the junk food. Marshmallows, Nutter Butters, and chips all went into her basket, and she ran to the front. And she had run right into Kirk.

"Hey Lorelai, you should really watch where you are going, you could hurt someone running around like that."

"Got it Kirk, but I really need to go, so- oh look, there's someone else running through the store. Go lecture them."

"I'm not done, see I am now working for an insurance company, and there is great danger in running in such a crowded space. You would rather be late, then dead, am I right Lorelai?"

"Yeah, whatever Kirk. But I stopped running, so go lecture the other runners Kirk!" And with that, she didn't even give him the chance to keep talking to her she walked up to the line, and got out of the store.

On her way back home, Luke showed up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her from the back, kissed her cheek and breathed in her hair. _She smells so good._ "Hey." He said into her hair.

Lorelai had a huge smile on her face when she turned to him. "Hey, I was just on my way home."

"Well, I will join you" he said and then he took her hand and they walked to her house lost in thoughts about each other.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Thank you for everyone's reviews! I was having issues coming up with what to do with the story before. Thank you for your patience. Here you go!**

Reaching her front porch, Lorelai was struck with the realization that Luke hadn't been in her house since they had started- whatever they had started. The thought made her shy about him coming in for some reason, but she tried to shake the feeling. Fumbling with the key, Luke could tell that something was suddenly wrong.

"Lorelai, what's going on?" he asked carefully.

"Um, yeah why?" she answered in standard Lorelai fashion when she was nervous about something. Then she started babbling, about, like normal, anything at all.

But Luke stopped her. "Lorelai, tell me what's wrong?" a little more forceful, really wanting to fix whatever problem she was having.

"Um, nothing- well see it's just that-"She stopped for a minute, and realized how stupid this worry was. "We, haven't been together…….in my house…since…..we've been dating." She finished softly.

Luke thought that it might be something like that, and was prepared for it. "Lorelai, this thing that we've started, me and you………I told you that I was in. And that means talking out every worry that you have about us."

Lorelai couldn't believe the amazing-ness of the guy standing in front of her. She had to stare at him for a minute, just in awe of what an amazing guy he was, and how perfect they truly were for each other. "Luke, when Rory was little, I never, I never had….relationships… at my house- in my house. Luke, Max was the first guy I let in my house." She didn't really know what she was trying to say, but she was trying to get a point across. _I'm in too_ is what her heart was saying. But there was more to it then that to express to him. She tried again, "It's still weird for me to bring a guy home Luke. I messed up bringing Max here. And what's even weirder, is that you have been in my house a million times!" _You belong here in my house_, her heart told her. Suddenly she was ready for him to come in. Max coming in had been a mistake, but not Luke. "You know what? Come in Luke. Weirdness over."

Luke didn't question it; he just walked into her house after her. He hadn't noticed all the food that Lorelai had had in her arms until now. "Lorelai! I said that I would bring over hamburgers and fries! What else do you need?"

"You can't give me everything that I need Mr. Backwards Baseball Cap! I still need to eat, especially on movie night." She smiled and kissed him as she was saying this.

"You and your movie night food." Was all he got out before he kissed her back.

For some reason they separated awkwardly, Lorelai had no idea why- maybe it was still about being in her house, but it was now a good time to start the movie. "Well, the movie." She said nervously. "Now, do you remember the rules of movie night?"

"You mean the rules, that last time we watched a movie, you broke every single one of?" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, those." She answered innocently and with a flash of a smile.

'Yeah, I remember."

"Um, well good." She said, and sat next to him on the couch. _This is so weird_! She thought. There were so many memories of the two of them here, and it was weird having him here as her boyfriend. "Luke" she said finally, "this is weird."

"Yeah, it is." And then he waited a minute, "Lorelai, why is this so weird, I have been here a million times, we have also sat and watched a movie together before. This shouldn't be weird."

"Well it is, and that's just it! Because you have been here a million times, that's the point! We are here in a different way then any of those other times. It's weird to be with you here, now as…..together."

"Lorelai, can we talk about something?"

_Oh no! I have bothered him already_! "Sure, what?"

"We have already talked about the fact that I have loved you for 8 years. Every other time I came over here, I loved you. I had just been hiding it. So nothing has changed on my end. Does that make since?"

Lorelai breathed in, okay, she knew that this conversation would have to happen sometime, and she was ready for it. "Yeah, it does Luke. I hadn't thought of that before. We have had a really weird friendship, and I never really knew what to think of it. Changing from liking each other and hiding, to starting a relationship, is an odd transition, because of the odd friendship." She didn't quite know how to say what she knew he was waiting for, so she breathed in and continued. "Luke, I have loved you for the last 8 years too." Her eyes were soft and focused on him, she said this quietly, almost under her breath.

But Luke heard it, and couldn't help the smile from forming on his face. He had just heard the words that he had longed for years. He let that settle in his heart and said, "Okay, then everything else will work out."

**I promise that the next one will be longer.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Gilmore Girls**

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed!**

**Chapter 8**

She had told him! She had been able to tell a man that she loved him, and meant it with her whole heart. After she and Rory had a talk about that years ago, it thrilled her to no end that she had finally been able to take her own advice. Maybe this meant that this was the relationship that was made just for her. Sure, she and Luke were meant to be together, she had known that for several days, and had said it to herself the whole time, but this was huge! She had been able to tell a man that she loved him. She wasn't scared! Suddenly she felt completely safe in this relationship. There wasn't anything she could do to ruin it! This one was MADE for her! She couldn't screw it up! She hadn't even realized all of the walls that she had had up in other relationships, but she was now very aware that the walls were down. There was suddenly a huge gap between Luke, and every other guy that she had ever dated. All of these huge thoughts were taking her breath away, and she gasped. She had never felt so open, vulnerable and yet free and excited at the same time. _I'm letting him in! I am allowing myself to let him in_! She had to do something, so she leaped up and hugged Luke.

Luke had been watching all of these thoughts go on through her eyes, and he couldn't believe that he had gotten in. He was surprised when she leaped up to hug him, but hugged her right back to confirm everything that had just gone through her head. They were really meant to be together, Lorelai was letting him into her heart, which was huge. She had never let anyone in like this. He really was going to be good for her, and very different from any of her other boyfriends. That was what he had always hoped for. He pulled back and kissed her, and the kiss was completely different then before. She was completely his, no barriers.

Suddenly they were both very tired. The last 2 weeks had been crazy. This whole thing had been a lot of huge steps in her life. A lot of barriers and walls had been broken down with this new relationship of theirs. Lorelai had no worries about it at all. She couldn't mess this up. They were just standing there, not able to take in everything that was going on. There was a huge amount of healing going on in Lorelai's heart, and Luke was excited that he could be part of it. They sat down together, and Lorelai broke the silence.

"Luke, you want to start the movie?" she just wanted to spend some time with him, and let her heart work through everything that was happening. Although it was all very good stuff, it was still big, and needed to be processed. Right now she just wanted to be close to Luke.

"Yeah" Luke said with a smile. He was very excited about the walls broken down in Lorelai's life, but also understood that it was a lot to take in at once.

So she got up and put the movie in. Then she settled in close to Luke. Suddenly she remembered all the food that he had brought over and she had gotten, and was hungry. They set out all of the food, and she scarffed down her hamburger and fries, and then dug into her junk food. Luke watched her in mock disgust. He would never admit it but he loved to watch her eat like only Lorelai could. It was cute, and so her.

Luke wasn't really in the mood to watch a movie, he wanted to talk about all the thoughts that he had seen go on in her eyes, but glancing at her, and he could see that she was really into the movie. Well, at least he was with her.

When the credits started rolling, it woke Luke up. He had no idea where he was, until he moved a little and felt someone next to him. And he was sitting up- sort of. Lorelai was next to him, and he then remembered the whole thing. She was completely out, and she had been so tired, that he grabbed a blanket- covered them both, and settled back into the couch. He would sleep here with her, so that she wouldn't have to wake up- and because they were comfortable.

Lorelai woke up at about 8am, and realized that she was downstairs. She was very confused until she turned and saw Luke. To see the time, she had to turn completely around, and squinted, and not wake Luke up if possible. She panicked when she saw it was 8am. She nudged Luke a couple times until he started getting up, and then he jolted off the couch when he saw what time it was. Lorelai groggily thought through what needed to happen before she could head to work, and almost completely forgot about Luke. She grunted her goodbye to him, but he spun her around to kiss him. Then he really did need to get to the diner and her to the inn. She just could not wake up to do so.

Later, after the breakfast rush, Luke started thinking about that morning. He felt guilty for making both of them late, and worried about why she hadn't wanted to kiss him goodbye. _Was it something? Or was he just overreacting_? He wrote it off until he could see her, and talk to her. He also realized that he hadn't made sure that she was okay before he left; she had seemed kind of distant after everything came together. A lot happened last night for Lorelai, her world of what she knew had come apart. These would be good, healthy changes for her, and her relationships in the long run but they kind of turned her world upside down last night. He wondered how she was dealing with all of that. He kicked himself for not asking this morning. _Well actually, this whole relationship had turned their lives upside down; these whole 2 weeks had been a huge explosion of information for both of them_. _They had both been hiding some really big, strong feelings for years, and they all came out in 2 weeks. At least it had all been good news_! He had gotten everything that he had ever wanted. Last night really hadn't been much of date; they had been pretty quiet through the movie, he assumed that she was processing, so he had just held her, and left her alone. But they really didn't have much of a date. At least a lot of good things came out into the open.

"Luke, we kind of need you. It's getting pretty busy." A frustrated Caesar said to him. He had apparently been trying to get his attention for some time.

_Wow_, Luke had been daydreaming! You didn't catch Luke daydreaming very often, but here he was. "I- oh, sorry." And he started working again.

Lorelai had never woken up so happy in her life, she marveled. She hadn't even had sex the night before, but she woke up in Luke's arms. In a completely innocent situation! She had never felt so happy, secure, and just plain safe. She was now so sure of herself; not the normal Lorelai sure of herself, a real, deep confidence. It was a confidence that came from someone loving you completely.

After work, there was nothing that she wanted to do more then have dinner at Luke's. She wondered if she should call, or surprise him…..hmm. Last night hadn't been much of a date, and she didn't want him thinking that it would always be that way, so she would make it up to him tonight. She LOVED the fact that she wasn't worried about losing him. She just wanted to make him happy tonight. Last night had been about her, and tonight would be about him. She hopped into her jeep and drove towards the diner. She flipped the mirror down to see what her hair and makeup looked like. She could stop at home quickly if it was bad. But it turned out that it was fine. Lorelai realized that she was starving as she opened the diner door.

When the bell above the door rang, Luke knew it was her. He always had had a sense for when it was Lorelai at the door, but today, he was positive, and very happy to see her. As he walked towards her, he grabbed the coffee pot. She would want lots of coffee; they hadn't slept well last night. "Hey" he said and couldn't help smiling as he poured her coffee.

"You are an angel!" was her normal reaction when he gave her coffee after a long argument. But this time she hadn't needed to fight.

"Thanks" he said. He had never really knew how to react to that. But she gave him a huge smile, and he couldn't help but sit down and talk with her for awhile. They were completely lost in their own world, and talked for nearly an hour. That is with the whole town watching them through windows. Luke couldn't believe how happy he was just to sit and talk to her. Luke had been through a lot, with a lot of sadness in his life, but she was bringing such a joy to it, he couldn't believe that he had waited 8 years for this feeling. And truly he could have had it 8 years ago!

Suddenly Caesar got him up and told him that he was needed in the kitchen. Lorelai realized that she was starving, and wanted to order. They both had to come back to earth. Luke unfortunately stayed busy in the kitchen for awhile, glancing up to catch Lorelai's eye for a moment. He never caught it. He still hadn't asked about what he had been wanting to all day long. When he finally got back over to her table, she was starving, and only wanted to order. "Lorelai? Can we talk about something?"

"If it's about my food. I am starving."

"Just, wait a second." He started. And she realized that he was being serious, "Lorelai, I'm sorry that I didn't ask you this morning how you were feeling about everything. A lot came out in the open last night, and I didn't make sure you were okay this morning."

She would never get used to how sweet Luke was. When you first saw him, he was so gruff, but this was the true Luke. She hoped that she could bring that out in him more often. "Thank you Luke! Yeah, I'm doing okay, there was a lot to process last night, and I am sorry that I was so quiet after all of that. But I was hoping that I could make it up to you tonight." She said with a smile.

"I would be okay with that." he said carefully, and very interested in spending the evening with Lorelai.

"Alright, my house at 8ish?"

"You're on" and he walked away to get her food. _This was the very beginning of an awesome life together,_ was all that Luke could think of.

On his way to Lorelai's house, Luke stopped and got flowers to bring her. He hadn't thought of what that would mean in the market. Everyone questioned him, especially Taylor. Luke got really grumpy, and yelled at everyone in the market. And then he stalked out with his flowers. Ringing Lorelai's doorbell, something about the house seemed off. He couldn't place the change, there was something different. As he waited for her to answer, the feeling grew.

**So, I feel like this story is going nowhere. Where should it go? I need your help!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to all of the reviews!**

**This is short, but it is very very sweet.**

**I hate that Lorelai never said that she was "in". I was trying to think of how she would have done it, and this was what I came up with.**

**Chapter 9**

Lorelai had never been so excited in her whole life. She had had the best idea as a present to Luke, to show that she was his for good. She could hardly breathe she was so excited. She dug through her closets, throwing things out onto her bed as she went. And then she found it, she hadn't even looked or thought about it for years, The Max box. The last time that she had looked inside was when Rory and Dean broke up. She breathed in and peaked inside. She also wanted to write Luke a letter. Explaining exactly what these boxes meant. She then dug deeper. She had been angry at Jason when they broke up, but she had kept a couple things that stood out to her as meaningfully from their relationship. She threw them onto the pile also. Then there was Chris. He had been so important to her life for so long- sure on and off, but still he was very important. She had a lot from him. The night they sat on the staircase listening to their parents argue about what they should do with their pregnant children, Lorelai and Christopher had listen to her walkman. She had saved the tape from inside. She had a million things that made her think of him, and some of it made her sad. But the thought of having a real relationship, and not waiting around for Chris, was a huge step in the right direction for Lorelai. She glanced at the clock. She had about 2 ½ hours before Luke would be coming by. Lorelai needed to hurry if she wanted to have everything perfect for Luke. She started digging through her closet more quickly, looking for any hint of anything else that was from any other relationship.

When she was sure that everything from any other guy was out of her closet, she brought it all downstairs. She needed a large bow to put over the top of the boxes. She couldn't wait to see Luke's face when he understood what all of this meant. Lorelai was sure this time, she had never been sure. She had the most amazing chills running through her as she did this. She wanted to show Luke that she was in. Not just say it; this whole relationship was such a huge turning point in her life- it was changing the way she thought, and felt. Huge changes, that Lorelai didn't even know needed to happen. Her heart was lifting, and she didn't have the normal insecurities that she normally did. It's not like everything in life was perfect, but things seemed to be getting better. She couldn't even imagine forever with him!

Luke couldn't decide what was different, but something was. He couldn't place it at all, but it made him stop and back away for a minute to take the whole house in at once. Realizing it was as simple as every light in the whole house being on, he relaxed again. _Why was every light on? What was she doing_? But at least everything was okay, and her car was there, so she didn't run on him. There was a different feeling about tonight though that he couldn't shake. But it was necessarily bad, so he rang her bell.

Her heart stopped when she heard him ring the bell. He was here! She was about to give her entire heart to a man! She had truly already done that, but this was going to be big. She walked downstairs, not believing where life had taken her in the last couple weeks. She opened the door with a huge smile, and Luke noticed that her eyes sparkled more then normal. Although she did looked nervous.

She wordlessly took his hand, and led him over to where she had set all of the

junk. She couldn't breathe; she was so excited to share her feelings with Luke. Luke was completely confused, the normally cattery Lorelai, was silent, and not telling him what she was up to. Something was up. To calm herself down, she closed her eyes and kissed him. Still confused, Luke broke the kiss and gave her a funny look. She breathed in, and stepped to the side so that Luke could see what she had done. "Luke, th- this stuff represents every other relationship I have- (she was getting choked up at the emotion of it all)- I have ever had." And then she whispered, "it's all for you." She watched him take it all in, so she saw when the magnitude of what she meant hit him.

Luke had to sit down, and thank goodness there was a seat behind him. This was it! Lorelai was his. He knew how much these other men had meant to her, and it was all his. He wondered if this was why he had felt something odd when he had gotten to her door. Had his heart known what would happen tonight? He felt like crying at the gift that was in front of him; something that he hadn't felt like doing since his father died. This relationship was different. They had been in love for 8 years- true they had only known about these feelings for two weeks- but he knew. And he knew that it was time. Suddenly he got up, understanding what exactly she was giving him. But to her surprise, he didn't stand up, but got on his knee.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter 10**

After kneeling down, Luke looked up to Lorelai to see what she might be thinking. She was breathing. He would have laughed at the sight of her if this wasn't such a serious moment, and he wasn't as nervous as he was. He reached for her hand, and was relieved when she gave it to him freely. _Maybe this really will go well. _Inwardly he told Lorelai to breathe; she was quite a funny sight. Her eyes that were normally large anyways, were gigantic, she was bright red, and crying before he had even said anything! But there was another thing about her that gave him the confidence to go through with his plan. Her eyes that were gigantic and red were sparkling, even more then normal. This was right, and she knew it too.

"Lorelai" he said, having no idea what he had planed to say, he just knew that this was the moment to do it. "I have loved for 8 years. 8 years of fighting with you over coffee and helping you fix things around your house. Lorelai, every time you walked into my diner, I couldn't breathe, that bell would ring, and I would hope that it was you, for 8 years! 8 years of getting to know you better then anyone else in the world does. 8 years of both of us going out with other people, but me desperately wanting to be with you. I had never had the words to tell you how I felt. You're the one for me, and the fact that things still worked out, even after 8 years means that this is going to work. I'm in forever Lorelai. I love you, and I know that this is really early in the relationship, but I think that 8 years is long enough to wait. Will you marry Lorelai?"

Lorelai, who had been crying before he even got started, was blubbering now. This was the moment she had been waiting for, not with Max that had been too easy. This was worth the wait, this was worth fighting for, and this was it. Luke was the one for her, and she hadn't messed it up. This couldn't be messed up.

As soon as Luke was done he stood up and held her. She was crying pretty hard, and he hoped that it was happy-crying. "Lorelai? What are you thinking?" he finally said into her hair.

Realizing she had let him stand here and wait for her answer, she pulled away and said through her crying, "Oh! Luke! I'm sorry, of course I will marry you, and I haven't wanted anything more in my life."

"Okay," he said, and kissed her. They talked excitedly about the wedding, and when it would be…..and about getting a ring the next evening.

"So, this was a big chance in plans, what do you want to do tonight?" she asked.

"Let's, have a giant bonfire in your backyard, and burn all of this crap."

And she thought this was a grand idea, and so they gathered everything up and took it into her backyard. Luke couldn't believe how light and free he felt tonight. He was going to marry Lorelai Gilmore. Everything in the world was perfect. When they had walked outside with all the stuff, both notice the chuppah at the same time, and looked at each other. They dropped everything that they had in their hands, and walked over to it together. Under the chuppah they shared a kiss, both wrapped up in the fact that they would soon be under it, becoming man and wife. They both laughed at the memory of it, and that it was almost funny that he had made it for her to marry another man, and they just stared at each other for awhile, thinking of all the times they had missed the opportunity to share their love for the other.

Lorelai was almost giddy, she couldn't sit still- even more then normal. They started a fire, and burned up everything that was left over from Chris, Max and Jason. They talked about old times, and their future, and when the fire went out, they went inside to find some champagne, and toast their future. Only Lorelai didn't have any. Feeling like the evening was ruined; she started freaking out to Luke.

"Lorelai, its okay, there is no way you could have ruined this evening unless you had said no." he said, laughing at her freak out. Secretly he loved them, but this was one was serious. He couldn't let her think that she had ruined the best night of their lives. "What better to toast my engagement with you, then with coffee?" he said, not believing that he had just said that.

"Luke, um….uh are you serious? You are going to drink coffee with me?" she was completely surprised by what he had just said. _Was he serious_? "Um, I thought that coffee was going to kill me?" she couldn't not get over how big of a gesture of love this was for him. _Would he forever be sweeping me off of my feet? First the horoscope, then proposing after only 2 weeks, and now he was going to drink coffee with her._ She looked at him to see if he was really serious. She couldn't believe how sweet this grumpy diner owner was. He knew exactly how to make her feel safe and deeply cared about. When she realized that he was serious, she started a pot of coffee.

When it was done, she took out two mugs, making sure that they were very girly ones, and poured the coffee. "Have you ever drank coffee before?" she said, still not positive about the situation.

"Yes, Lorelai, I have." He replied, noticing the mugs. "I have not always been the healthy eater that I am now."

She stopped what she was doing, interested in what he had said. "What? When did that crazy part of Luke's life start then?"

"When my father died. See he died of heart problems, which was caused by his unhealthy eating habits. That scared me into shape, and got me eating like I do now."

That sounded just like Luke, family meant everything to him, and something happening to his dad, would cause him to change his whole life like that. That was just like Luke, Lorelai thought. And loving the thought of being with Luke forever, and having their own family, made Lorelai smile as she handed him the coffee.

"Aww geez. Could you have picked out a smuttier mug for me Lorelai?" he said, and then he got very serious, and said "To us."

She smiled and clinked mugs with him saying "To us" they both took big gulps of coffee, and Lorelai watched for Luke's reaction. She was happy that she had been watching him when he spit his coffee across the room."

"This stuff is GROSS! How can you drink this stuff!" he said, and she laughed so hard that her coffee came out of her nose.


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Gilmore Girls.**

**It feels really good to write a story about how HAPPY Luke and Lorelai are! And believe me when I say that April and Anna are not going to exist in my story.**

**Chapter 11**

**Let's Go See Rory**

They were both on the ground in hysterics- seeing the other with coffee coming out of their nose or mouth was hilarious, and neither could get the picture out of their head. Finally they breathed a sigh of relief- and turned their heads so that they could look at each other. Absolute happiness was written on both faces. They were engaged- they both wanted to be together. That was amazing- and wonderful and Lorelai couldn't breathe for a moment. She got up on her elbow so that she could lean over and kiss Luke.

Their kiss was interrupted by Babbette. "Doll! Did I see flames in your yard!" She asked as she raced through the front door.

"Hey Babbette!" Lorelai said, pulling herself and Luke up to their feet. "We have some news for you"

Babbette took in the huge smiles, and started jumping up and down. "You're engaged! Oh my gosh! Doll! You got engaged!"

"Wow, you guessed that fast. But yes, you're right. Luke and I got engaged tonight." She looked back to Luke, hoping that it was okay to be telling this already. He nodded and smiled at her.

"Oh, I am so excited for guys! I have to go tell Miss Patty." And she raced back out of the house, and down the street.

Luke and Lorelai, laughed at her- realizing once again how long the town had been waiting to see them together. She turned to him, her eyes getting very serious she said "I love you Luke Danes."

He took her into his arms, and whispered the same thing into her hair. They stayed like that for a long time, until Lorelai thought of something. "Rory!" and leaped backwards out of his arms.

He smiled. He had been waiting for her to realize that she needed to tell Rory and Sookie. He was glad that she was happy enough to want to tell people.

"Can I call her?" she asked, wanting to tell Rory the best news of her life.

"Why don't we go up and see her Lorelai?" he replied. "Go get ice cream or something." He knew that this was going to be an important meeting with Rory, and he watched her face light up at the idea.

So she ran to get shoes and a coat and jumped into his truck. In the car, she was so fidgety that Luke laughed at her, and put his hand on her knee; just trying to calm her down. "You know, how about tomorrow night we go get you a ring?"

She hadn't even thought about a ring. She had just been so excited that they both wanted to get married, that it had completely slipped her mind. _Wow, he must not have been expecting to purpose tonight! _Was her thoughts. Then a thought hit her hard_…..did he want to get married, or had he just been wrapped up in the moment? _She glanced at Luke and studied his look._ He looked happy. _"Luke; did you-"

"Yes Lorelai. I have been wanting to ask you for awhile….I just thought that it was too soon for you. But then tonight- seeing what you were giving me and how much you were putting into this relationship, I knew that that was what you wanted too. I just hadn't gotten a ring yet. I promise that I have been wanting to ask you for awhile." He took his eyes off the road for a second so that he could make his point with his eyes. "I love you, and have for a long time. My dream has been to marry you Lorelai." Her eyes getting teary told him that she believed him. And he smiled. "Let's go tell Rory our news." And with that he parked the car, and they got out and walked hand in hand to Rory's room.


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Gilmore girls!**

**Chapter 12**

**Is it really too early to have them engaged? I mean they have known each other for a long time. So once they realized that they were in love, there really isn't much 'get to know each other' stuff to do right? Tell me what you think. They could also have a really long engagement- NOT a long engagement because of a devil child named April and her mother, but because they got engaged really early into their relationship.**

Rory had been very surprised to see the two of them together standing in her hallway at 1am. There was no doubt about it; she had been asleep when they had gotten there. Luke and Lorelai, in their excitement had not even thought about the time. But they were there now, so they might as well tell their good news. To Rory's sleepy head, they both looked a tad sheepish- like they were up to something big. "What could you possibly be doing at my dorm now?" she finally asked confusedly, being no one had said more then hi yet.

Luke stood up a little straighter and finally spoke "Your mother and me got engaged tonight." He said, and Lorelai loved the pride she heard in his voice. "In the excitement of that we didn't think about the time. We just really wanted to tell you first."

Rory was finally fully awake now. Her mother had gotten something good. She was engaged to the perfect man for her! She couldn't stop the tears that formed as she hugged Luke and then her mother.

Through tears of her own, Lorelai asked, "So are we forgiven for waking you?"

"Absolutely! Oh, I am so excited for you too." She couldn't have been happier. Luke would be her real step-dad very soon. "When is the wedding?" she asked.

"Oh, sweets! This just happened and then Babbette interrupted us, and then we decided to come visit you. There hasn't been tons of time to plan the wedding yet." And then she looked at Luke, "But we will."

"Oh, of course. Okay. Do- do you guys want to go get some coffee, or something….as a" and she finished with a smile, "family?" She felt a little stupid about that comment, until she saw it's affect on Luke.

Now it was Luke's turn to cry, and he came forward to hug Rory again. Their hug was long and heart-felt. The first true father/ daughter hug of their relationship. And both had tears in their eyes when they were done. Lorelai's eyes were wet too, seeing how much the two most important people in her world cared about each other. That meant a whole lot to her.

After a moment to collect themselves had passed Luke asked Rory, "Can you go out with us? It's late and you do have classes in the morning, right? Don't you need to get back to bed?"

"No! This is much more important. Just let me get my coat and shoes…." And looking down at herself, she finished with, "and get dressed." And she walked out of the room and into her bedroom.

"Rory!"

Both Luke and Lorelai cringed at the voice and its intensity. Paris. They had woken Paris up, and now they would pay for it. They hadn't even thought of that when they had gotten there. Both of them secretly hoped that their news was enough to make up for waking her up.

A crazy looking girl with her hair everywhere, and green slime all over her face came stalking out of the other bedroom. "What could possibly be going on so that I am woken up at 1am!"

"I-I'm sorry Paris." Lorelai started. She looked at Luke, but he was staring in awe at the horror that was Paris in the middle of the night that she didn't think that he could exactly form sentences yet. "Luke and I just got engaged tonight, and we waned to come and tell Rory right away."

"Oh," Paris said to that. "Well, congratulations guys!" she really didn't know what to say, and for once she kept her mouth shut from saying something stupid. "When's the big event?"

"Oh, well we really don't know yet." Luke said, finding his voice again

"Did you want to come out with us for some coffee?" Lorelai asked, knowing that that would make up for a lot.

"No thanks, I have some sleep to get yet." And she went back into her own room. Luke and Lorelai both sighed with relief as she left. Paris was scary.

"Wow, Paris hasn't changed at all" Luke said.

"Nope, not one bit. I kind of thought that she would grow out of her Paris-ness eventually. But it hasn't happened yet." Lorelai answered with a smile.

Rory walked back out of her room and declared that she was ready to go. "Did I hear Paris out here?"

"Yes, but she calmed back down." Lorelai said while they walked out of the door.

Two hours later Luke stopped in front of Yale, opened the door and carried Rory back to her dorm room. They had definitely had fun, but Rory was now tuckered out, and she had fallen asleep on the way back home. Luke hadn't wanted to wake her up, so while Lorelai unlocked and opened doors, Luke carried Rory upstairs and they put her to bed. Lorelai kissed her goodnight, and then they walked back out to their car. This time they were very careful not to wake Paris back up.

"If I fall asleep on the way home, will you carry me inside?" Lorelai asked yawning and trying to hide it.

"Of course," he said and squeezed her hand. Then he whispered into her ear, "I would carry you upstairs even if you weren't asleep yet." And then he smiled because he could tell that she would very much be asleep by the time they got back to her house. But that was okay for Luke; he got to watch her sleep, and think about how lucky he was. He had Lorelai by his side, and she wanted to be there forever! That was amazing to him. Just because he had always wanted that, he hadn't really thought that she would want that too. But when she had given him all those things from her old boyfriends, something in him realized that she was in for good, and he saw that he really could ask, and knew that she would say yes. He yawned and looked at the time, it was 4am. And he was exhausted. It had been a great evening, but also very tiring. He really didn't want it to end, but he was fading fast. _Good thing we are almost to her house_, he thought and squeezed her hand again and brought it up to his mouth to kiss. But she was completely out and just shifted a little in her sleep.

When they arrived at the Gilmore house, Luke turned off the engine of his truck, and thought about how to work this. He didn't want to wake her up, but it would be hard to work out. He dug around in his pocket for the key, if he held it in his hand; he wouldn't have to stand at the door with her in his arms digging for it. He then went around to her door, unbuckled her seatbelt, and picked her up. Closing the door, he realized that he purse was still in the car, and so he grabbed that. He got her front door open, and put Lorelai down on the bed. She hadn't budged yet, and that made Luke smile. She was completely asleep. He kissed her and then wondered if he should undress her, or let her sleep in her clothes. She wasn't wearing terribly uncomfortable clothes, but they still weren't p.j's. In the end he left her. He really didn't want to wake her, and undressing her would most definitely wake her up. Luke got ready for bed, and carefully got in next to her.

Lorelai woke up first the next morning, and smiled once she realized that she was still in her clothes from last night. He must have carried her to bed. _That is SO sweet. _She then remembered the events from the night before, and got an incredible feeling inside. She turned over so that she could see Luke, and smiled at the sleeping figure. Too excited to be able to think, she shook him until he woke up. "LLLLLuuuke!" she whinnied until he opened his eyes.

"What?" he said jumping up, but he settled back down when he realized it was Lorelai, and realized that she was alive and not harmed. "What is it?" he asked more calmly.

"We're engaged!" she exclaimed, sitting up in bed, and bouncing around.

"You do still think that that is a good thing right? He asked, rubbing his eyes.

She beamed at him, and then said, "Yes! Sorry I woke you, I just got very excited when I woke up and realized what had happened last night."

"Well, that is not something that you need to be sorry for." he said with a smile, and sat up next to her, and kissed her.

"Oh, Luke! We're getting married! Married! I am so excited." She couldn't get over her giddiness of it all. Something good was happening to Lorelai Gilmore, and it was something permanent.

"I am too" Luke said, very happy to see her so excited over this. It was good to see that he could make her so happy. That it wasn't just one-sided. "So, after you get all done showering and everything you want to go get a ring?"

"A ring? Yes, let's go get a ring- and coffee!" she exclaimed as she ran for the bathroom to get all of that done so that they could go.

And Luke sighed and went downstairs to get her coffee.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**I don't own Gilmore Girls **

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed! **

Lorelai was in a hurry to take a shower. She was already mentally going through her closet deciding the best thing to wear to pick out an engagement ring. She wanted to look perfect. But what do you wear to search for the perfect ring with your fiancé? Lorelai had no idea. With Max she hadn't gone with him to get the ring- she had told him through Rory what she wanted. But this was Luke. And he was perfect. They got to go together to get the perfect ring that would announce to the world that they were getting married. That they were in love. Lorelai was giddy. She wanted to hurry, and yet she wanted her hair and make-up perfect. When she got out the shower, and still couldn't decide what to wear, she picked up the phone to call Rory. Dialing the number, she suddenly stopped and realized something. Lorelai then raced down the stairs, dropping the phone as she went. When she ran into the kitchen, the smell of coffee barely hit her nose before she grabbed Luke's arm and dragged him back up the stairs. "Luke, a minute ago I was about to call Rory."

"Um, okay." Luke said as he sat on the bed, he knew there had to be more to the story.

"I was going to call her to ask her what to wear on our little shopping trip." She could barely get 'shopping trip' out without a giddy little squeal- but she wanted to be serious about this. She really needed Luke to know that she was in on this relationship. She felt like she couldn't let him know that enough. "And I realized that that is something that I did wrong when I was with Max. I- I didn't let him into my everyday life, things that I used to call Rory for I should be calling you for. Not, like always- I mean Rory is my best girl-friend, and favorite daughter, but YOU are my new best friend. And I need to let you into those kind of things." She looked at Luke, hoping that he didn't think that this was stupid. "So, I was hoping that you would help me decide what to wear."

"Lorelai, what can I do to prove to you that this relationship is for good? I am not going to walk away from it. I need you to believe me. So what is the problem?" Luke asked. What she had said was cute- and sweet, but she was trying to hard. He loved her, and it felt like she was trying to make up to him for all of the bad relationships she had ever had. It was a little frustrating. Luke wanted to move on. She had said she loved him- they were engaged. That was honestly enough for him. All this talk about old boyfriends and their 'boxes' made him think that this girl might have more emotional baggage then he was willing to deal with. He hadn't realized that it had bothered him until she had dragged him upstairs.

Lorelai was thrown off guard. "Um, Luke…..where is this coming from?" She was a little nervous.

"Lorelai, I just want to know why you think that you have to prove to me over and over that you care about me and this relationship. Between the old boyfriends' boxes, explaining that I am the first boyfriend you have let in the house, it's enough Lorelai. I know that you are in this. You don't have to prove it to me over and over again."

"Luke- I, I don't know." Lorelai had never really thought at she didn't have anything to offer a relationship besides sex. She just couldn't wrap her mind or heart around the fact that Luke found a lot more then the sex interesting about her. She had been acting out of deep hurts in her heart, and just the mention of those hurts made her tear up. Sure Luke had proven to her that he was in it for good, but her heart couldn't trust that yet.

"I love you, Lorelai. And I know that you love me. Do you need some time to decide how to believe me?" he said taking her hand.

"I- I love you Luke!" Lorelai said getting exasperated.

"Love me by trusting me. You don't have to prove anything. We are in this together."

"Maybe I can't trust that Luke." Lorelai whispered after a couple of moments. Something in her heart was just not going to let her have a real relationship, and that realization almost killed her. "Maybe I am just not supposed to have a lasting relationship! Maybe all of this is useless- Luke!" Something was deeply wrong with her. She had always wondered that deep inside- but Luke bringing it up brought it all home to her.

"Lorelai, its okay. That isn't true at all. Don't believe such things. Maybe things are going too quickly here. We haven't had much time to breathe since everything with us started. But I need you to believe me before we are engaged." He said taking her into his arms.

"What are you saying Luke?" Lorelai asked, hoping that it didn't mean what she thought that it did. If Luke was walking out of this, Lorelai would never recover.

"I'm just saying that I don't want you to have to try so hard at this. I want you to think about if you can trust me or not. I want all of you, Lorelai……that includes your trust."

"Luke I can trust you! Please believe me."

"I have no doubt that you want to. I just need you to give me your whole heart. I am not breaking up with you……I just really need this before we continue towards marriage."


End file.
